


Ulterior Motifs

by ThePagemistress



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-10
Updated: 2017-03-10
Packaged: 2018-10-02 08:11:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10213280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePagemistress/pseuds/ThePagemistress
Summary: Josh has a recurring theme to all his work. It seems only fitting it should be so for his masterpiece.For the Tumblr dialogue prompt: "Something about you makes me want to commit extreme violence."





	

"Hey Josh, what is it called when a filmmaker uses the same thing in all their work?"

Josh looked up from his laptop where he was editing his latest masterpiece to stare at his sister. "You mean a motif?"

"Yes! That's it," Hannah said, biting down a grin that just meant trouble.

Josh's gaze darted across to Beth who was also trying to fight down a smile. Trouble. "Why?" Josh dared ask.

"Do you know what your motif is?" Hannah asked.

"No," Josh said, elongating the word to waste time. "But I'm assuming you do?"

"It's Chris, duh," Hannah declared.

"A person can't be a motif, dummy. Besides, I have like, three friends, of course they’re gonna be in everything I do." After a pause, he added a "duh", just to make himself feel better.

Beth decided to join in the conversation from where she was lounging on the sofa, putting her book to one side. "She worded it poorly. What she  _actually_  meant was that the motif is how much you wanna bone Chris."

Josh stared at them both, expression blank. "Bullshit," he said.

Beth shrugged. "If you don't believe us, how about we check out your movie reel, hm? You're always looking for some constructive criticism."

Against his better judgement, Josh loaded up his previous works and let his sisters tear into them. With love, of course.

After an hour and a half, Josh had to pause it. "Alright, alright, you've made your point. Shit."

"If it's any consolation," Hannah started, "I'm pretty sure it's only the sort of thing a sister could pick up on."

"So you don't think Chris got it from that?"

"Oh god no," Beth continued. "That guy is dumb as hell, are you kidding? You could probably walk straight up to him and kiss him full on the mouth and he'd be like 'haha nice one _bro_ , you got me!'" she said, doing a terrible imitation of the man in question.

"You're jerks," Josh said but his tone was light; he knew they both liked Chris. "You think anyone else knows?"

"Sam," Hannah said. After a swift jab to the ribs from Beth, she added, "Probably."

Josh narrowed his eyes at Beth who relented. "O- _kay_ , I may have told her but whatever, she's cool. She said that he likes Ashley?"

"Yeah,” he said, ignoring their sympathetic gazes. “Maybe I should try and set them up," he mumbled as he went back to his editing.

Hannah and Beth shared a glance. "Why- what? Wait, what? Why would that even be a thing you'd consider?" Beth asked.

"Because he's my bro? Bros help each other out?"

"Not when one bro is crushing on the other bro, bro. Now who's being dumb? See, you're perfect for each other."

"Beth's right, that's the dumbest. You told us to tell you when you were getting self-destructive. This?" Hanna said, waving a hand at Josh, "this is self-destructive. And as long as we're around, no way are we letting you do that to yourself."

~*~

"Something about you makes me want to commit extreme violence."

"Aw, Cochise. You say the sweetest things," Josh said, batting his eyes at Chris who remained stoney faced.

"It wasn't a compliment. I meant violence against you," Chris replied, refusing to look at him.

"Ooh, kinky," Josh said, never knowing when to call it quits.

"I'm serious, cut it out, man. What's the deal with you and Ashley?"

The question caught Josh so off-guard that he dropped any pretence of kidding around. "What?"

"Every time we hang out lately, you talk about her constantly. I can't tell if you're trying super hard to set us up or if  _you_  like her and are overcompensating."

Josh felt a hysterical laugh climb up his throat but choked it down. "Bro. Seriously? I'm not interested in Ashley."

Chris narrowed his eyes at Josh who tried to look as earnest as possible. He'd often been accused of being impossible to read but some people knew how to do it. Chris was one of the only ones left who still could. To a degree.

" _Tell me_ you're not inviting us up to the mountain as some hair-brained typical Josh Washington scheme to get Ashley and me to hook up," Chris said and boom, he'd done it again.

"Course not," Josh lied. In truth, he did have a larger plan, of course. A plan he'd been working on meticulously for months. A plan to teach them all a lesson, to punish them for what had happened to his sisters. A distraction to cover up his own guilt. 

But as he'd been making his plans, perhaps he'd become a little side-tracked. He could have written himself out of his own little play in any number of ways. But what about an ultimatum. A fitting send-off in what would inevitably be his true masterpiece. Life or death. Who would our hero choose? Chris would obviously pick Ashley, Ashley would be beside herself with gratitude, Chris and Ashley live happily ever after.

It was the greatest idea. And there was no one around to stop him now.

~*~

Ideas, they fester. They cling and they morph and they grow like a cancer inside Josh's mind. Motifs. Bros help each other out. As long as we're around. Commit extreme violence. The words and concepts crashed into each other like waves against rocks, slowly wearing away the edges until everything was sand. Until it was just one all-encompassing thought, impossible to clear. A thought he drew up as sketches with saw blades and levers. A thought that he tested on dead pigs. A thought that became more refined than his overall plot. The one recurring theme across all his work and its denouement.

Sometimes he heard Hannah spur him on. Sometimes he heard Beth tell him he was being an idiot. Sometimes he couldn't hear anything at all and he hated that more than anything.

He sent out the video invitations. The plan was put into motion.

~*~

Chris didn’t choose Ashley.

Josh hadn’t been sure in the moment, too busy playing the part of unwilling captive. But the moment the two of them left, he headed for his monitors and poured over the footage. Over and over.

And Chris didn’t choose Ashley.

Josh stared at the clown mask clutched in his hands, laughter bubbling in his throat. It grew, and grew, his shoulders shaking with the force of it. Chris had chosen to save him. He’d picked him over Ashley.

The mask hung limply in his hand as he dug the other into his hair, tugging on it until it hurt. Until tears pricked at the corners of his eyes as laughter cracked into broken sobs.

The sounds of Chris’ panic echoed in the room, a sharp accompaniment to the shrill buzzing of the saw tearing Josh in half before his eyes.

Chris chose him. And when they both left here with everything having been revealed, they’d both be left with this truth. And Josh knew that it was a mistake Chris would never be likely to make again.


End file.
